I was supposed to be off today, but will post a quickie blog here anyway. Ryan O’Reilly, the unsigned Avs’ center, signed a two-year contract today with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (say that five times fast) with the Kontinental Hockey League of Russia. He will now be teammates with, among others, Evgeni Malkin and his brother, Cal.

O’Reilly’s agent, Mark Guy, confirmed the signing. Why a two-year contract, when every other NHL locked out player that I’m aware of signed only provisional one-year deals?

“No good reason not to,” Guy told me. “It’s a very good deal for Ryan. He has an opt-out clause and if the lockout continues or we can’t reach an agreement (with the Avalanche) he can play with his brother.”

O’Reilly remains the only player of the Avs not signed to a contract for 2012-13, when/if that season begins. My feeling is O’Reilly would finally get his deal done with the Avs when/if the lockout ends, but there is no question that it was a surprise that wasn’t signed entering in the cutoff date to get players signed before the Sept. 15 lockout.

The parties simply have a difference in overall worth, or had. I don’t feel sure enough on how much of a difference to want to speculate.

Hey, we’ve all broken something when mad before. I did a pretty nice job on a static-y radio once after trying unsuccessfully to listen in on an important game. And I slammed a car door nice and super hard one time, enough to knock the window loose.

We can add Gabriel Landeskog to the breakage list now too. According to a story in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, our own Avs NHL rookie of the year smashed a pane of glass in the arena on his way to the dressing room in frustration, during a loss that put his team in NINTH place in the league – which isn’t even the best league in the country. Apparently, he pulled a box down or something and then it smashed some glass. Or something.

Here is the hilarious google translation of the story. Keep in mind that Landeskog’s last name translates to “Country Forest” on google. I did get an email from the author of the piece, Emil Karlsson, who said Landy was very sorry for what he did. Hey, it’s hockey. Here’s the translation: Read more…

You know we’re getting desperate to come up with new material here at All Things Avs when we are reduced to posting video of this rather mundane fight involving Gabriel “Country Forest” Landeskog the other night in his Swedish League game.
But that’s what we are: desperate. So here is video of the shoving match/fight/pattycake incident:

It was a rather dispiriting day on the lockout front. The league is widely expected to cancel more games today, in response to the NHLPA’s lack of a response to its latest take-it-or-leave-it deadline.
I asked one “insider” today whether there was any hope for a season still. The response: “Zero hope…season is done.”

I told him “Please don’t mince words.”

So, not encouraging there. Of course, that could be posturing. No wait, it almost certainly is posturing. But we’re used to that aren’t we? This whole thing has been one big, grotesque charade on the good ticket-buying supporters of a league that is proving more with each farcical day that it does NOT deserve your support.

I’m not an advocate here. Not my job. But if it were me, a regular old fan of the NHL? I wouldn’t come back. No way. I’d make ’em all feel the pain of my withheld money, however slight that pain might be. That goes for everyone, but especially to a league that has given one big middle finger to the people who were supposedly their “partners.”

Gary Bettman deserves ALL the blame for the league’s stupid, ridiculous, foolish, embarrassing, dumb, idiotic, brainless, irrational, inane, half-witted, absurd, preposterous, insane and mad initial offer to the players – the 43-percent, no arbitration, you-have-to-an-old-man-to-be-a-free-agent offer that also demanded one billion dollars in unmarked bills and a plane to Mexico.

That was what got this whole thing off to an ugly, poisonous start and it hasn’t recovered much since.

“He works for the owners. He was only doing their bidding,” you say in his defense. Why do the owners need a commissioner then? Why are they paying someone $8 million a year if all he does is act as a stenographer to their wishes? Doesn’t matter anyway. Bettman is smart enough to have known that would be a foolish offer. He should have gone back to the owners and said “OK guys, now you’re pushing it. Let’s be a little more sensible than this, yeah?” But he didn’t. So he gets the blame for not being smarter with his constituents.

I did give Bettman and the owners credit for coming up to 50-50, and giving in on other issues like free-agency age and arbitration. I still give them credit for it. And don’t think I don’t have some blame for Donald Fehr either (wait, what, he said he hadn’t “run the numbers” on one of his own proposals???).

But Bettman blew it again last week by storming out of the room just 10 minutes after the players’ three counter-proposals. Again, that’s on HIM. Who, except for little children, acts like that? I know the league said the players’ offer on the third one – a 50-50 split in exchange for current contracts not being rolled back in any way – wasn’t really 50-50.

OK fine, so sit and hash things out a while longer! How do you just get up and storm out right away, when really you were so close no matter whose math you use?

Now, the league is pouting, whining that the players aren’t negotiating off their last proposal. Now, no way an 82-game season happens.

This is the most ridiculous labor dispute in sports history, bar none. It is the result of failed leadership, plain and simple. If it were me, I’d make ’em pay in the pocketbook whenever the childishness ended.

Another good night for No. 91, Matt Duchene and his Frolunda Indians Saturday night. The Indians were victorious 3-1 over the mighty Timra in Swedish League action at the Scandinavium. Duchene scored a goal. Click here to watch some highlights of the match.
Here is the always-entertaining Google translation of the Swedish story:
NHL loans were a hit when Frolunda beat Timrå with 3-1 in front of Henrik Lundqvist, who visited the Scandinavium.
Viktor Stalberg scored two goals, and Matt Duchene smashed into one.
– No one touched me. I could have a cup of coffee in front of goal. In the NHL I had expected to become crosscheckad in mind, says Duchene to C More.
=Frölunda took a convincing victory on Saturday night when the NHL loans shone at full strength.
The chain with Colorado’s Matt Duchene, Fabian Brunnstrom and Chicago’s Viktor Stalberg showed class when Stalberg first sat two goals himself, then he played with Henrik Tömmernes until Duchenes third.
Stalberg has now made ​​three goals and two assists in four games.
– Viktor and I were talking earlier. The more we stick to our style, north and south, hold it fast and work that we do in the NHL, so it works for us, says Matt Duchene to C More.
The Canadian valued freedom above resist the dark terrace.
Henrik “Henke” Lundqvist stood for a distinguished visit at Scandinavium and was stepping out on the ice to receive the audience’s praise before the game.
Timra during qualifying mark
Timrå succeeded, despite the disadvantage affordable, never seriously disrupt Frölunda.
– They are a little hotter than us in the third, creating more situations in front of our cage than we do in front of them. They were better today, says Timrå coach Thomas Montén to C More.
Timrå remains during qualifying mark.
– We’ve mixed in all the way, perhaps especially now at the end we have played worse than what I think we should do. But there are many games left.
Frölunda remain in eighth place, the final playoff spot and can go considerably strengthened from the match.

Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov has a 3-1 record with a .932 saves percentage for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.

Gabriel Landeskog has played in three games for Djurgarden in Sweden, with two goals and one assist.

One of the all-time great apps is TuneinRadio, which allows you to pretty much listen to any radio station in the world, not to mention thousands of other specialty stations. Know what I’ve gotten into listening to a lot lately? Old-time radio mysteries. Try it, you’ll like it.

But I also listen to a fair amount of sports talk radio. Not from this country, though, as there is never any sports radio talk in the U.S. about hockey. But in Canada there is, and generally the best stations to for live hockey talk there are TSN 690 from Montreal and 590 The Fan from Toronto. To those I’ve excluded, apologies, but you’ll get over it.

Anyway, the Montreal station today had an interesting guest appearance from hockey analyst Pierre McGuire. Yeah, Pierre is a little excitable at times, but he is a tremendous guy and knows more about hockey in his left index finger than I do in my entire brain.

So my ears always pipe up when he’s asked about what’s going on in the game. When he came on today, I hit the “record” button on the TuneInRadio app (yes, that’s a cool feature about it) and will transcribe some of it for you good citizens here.

I spoke with Matt Duchene today, and unlike some other top NHL stars, he has no plans to sign with a European team anytime soon because of the NHL lockout, now in Day 2. But that could change if it gets to the point that a full NHL season could be lost.
Duchene and several Avs players, in fact, are in the Denver area and the immediate plan of theirs is to just keep a normal off-season routine of working out and staying in as good a condition as they can. Several players, including Duchene, likely will skate together at times in the area.

I haven’t heard of any other Avs players being close to signing with European teams, although there was a rumor that Gabriel Landeskog was drawing serious interest of a team in Norway. Avs defender Jan Hejda said he’ll wait until November before deciding anything. There also is the rumor that Paul Stastny will play in Germany, with his brother Yan, if the lockout drags on.

Avs training camp was supposed to start Sept. 21. It almost certainly will be postponed now, with no end in immediate sight to the lockout that makes zero sense (my feelings on which I detailed further in a column today).

In general, players that sign with European teams have opt-out clauses in their contracts, meaning they can break them the minute the NHL is back. About 350 players played in Europe in the cancelled season of 2004-05. Several, including Rick Nash, Joe Thornton, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jaromir Jagr and others, already have signed deals with European teams.

A few other things:
– The Avs say they will notify season-ticket holders later this week about their plans for refunds/overall policies regarding tickets, should a lockout eat into the regular season.
– The Avs will not comment on whether they plan any layoffs of team personnel during a lockout. The coaching staff is likely to receive their full salaries though. Avs coaches got their full pay in the last lockout.

I still am tenuously clinging to my prediction that the NHL will be back by Dec. 1 or so. Of course, I’ve been wrong before. I suppose I should probably do a DaterReverseJinx and say the whole season will be lost. That would guarantee my Dec. 1 prediction probably. Let me think on that some more.

A lot of people have asked me if there is some kind of deadline for the Avs to sign Ryan O’Reilly to a new contract before the expiration of the NHL collective bargaining agreement tonight at 10 p.m. MDT. The answer is: no.
Here is the answer to another question – “Will Ryan O’Reilly sign before the expiration of the new CBA anyway?”: no.

The Avalanche and the agent for O’Reilly, Mark Guy of Newport Sports, have agreed not to hold any more contract talks until a new CBA is in place. Who knows who long that will be?

While those questions are answered, there are still many unanswered questions with O’Reilly’s situation.
– If a new CBA were in place, will the same apparent gulf that has existed between the sides these last few months remain as wide as ever?
– Or, will the cementing of a new salary cap ceiling that would come from a new CBA give the Avalanche the kind of cost parameter it needed to better close a deal with The Factor?

My guess is this: once the new CBA is done, the Avs will close a deal with O’Reilly fairly quickly. Keep in mind: the Avs are still under the current CBA cap floor. The floor as it exists now is $54.2 million, and according to capgeek.com, the Avs are at $54,058,333 with 22 players signed.

Depending on the agreement of a new CBA – if it ever comes – the floor might go down for this coming season, if one happens. We just don’t know what the number will be, but if it goes down quite a bit, then obviously it could hurt O’Reilly’s negotiating position, and vice-versa if it stays the same or even goes up (unlikely).

The current cap ceiling is $70.2 million, so obviously the Avs would have plenty of space under which to fit O’Reilly should that stay at or near the same.

Meantime, we are left in the hellish limbo of a lockout, waiting for the petty egos from the parties involved to finish out their incredibly foolish game of chicken. I firmly believe this lockout will greatly damage the business of the NHL, worse than the last one. I just sense that the fans are incredibly fed up with this happening again, and I really do believe the league will lose a lot of fans forever. Will a lot come back? Of course, they’re hockey junkies. They’ll be back.

But this entirely unnecessary lockout will cost them a great deal of fans forever, and rightly so.

And if you’re a fan who is more disgusted by what the owners are doing (it’s their choice in doing the lockout, after all) and you want to strike back at their pocketbooks with more than just bravado? This is a good place to start.

Yes.
Fans of the Lake Erie Monsters could be in for a treat, if the NHL lockout proceeds (and it will). NHL rookie of the year Gabriel Landeskog could very well play for the AHL Monsters should a lockout drag on (and it will). Along with Landeskog, fans in Cleveland also may see a lot of Stefan Elliot and Tyson Barrie this year – although they probably would have seen them a lot anyway.

But Landeskog is the main attraction for Lake Erie management. Here’s why No. 92 could be in Cleveland soon:
– Because the Swedish League, where the native Swede might have played should a lockout occur, declared in August that it won’t allow “rental” players from the NHL to play there this year. The only exception to that rule is if NHL players sign a one-year contract with no “opt-out” clause. And the full NHL season almost certainly wouldn’t be canceled until January or February – and there is a Jan. 31 “transfer agreement” date in place anyway, for players to make up their mind which continent they want to play on for a season.
Sure, Landeskog could sign with a KHL team or a pro league in several other countries – and he might well do that if the price is right. But not having the Swedish League as a realistic option probably lowers the chances of him wanting to play in Europe.
(As a general rule, only players in their “first” contracts can be assigned to AHL teams without waivers. That means the Avs are free to send him to LE if they want without fear of losing him. They can’t, therefore, send players such as Matt Duchene or Ryan O’Reilly to LE, because their first contracts have expired. This is the “general rule” description. There are technical factors in other situations that could allow a second-contract player to be sent to the minors, but it’s too long to get into here and rarely happens).

– Because if he does play in Sweden or any other European league, Landeskog will have to take out a heavy personal insurance policy – or negotiate one with his temporary? new team. When an NHL player signs with a European team, they generally have to take out expensive personal insurance plans in case they get hurt. For most players, that’s not a huge deal, expense-wise, but it’s a factor. If Landeskog were to play for Lake Erie and get seriously hurt, the Avalanche would be responsible for his medical bills.

– Because other players of his ilk are expected to play for their AHL teams during a lockout. The Edmonton Oilers have essentially said already that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, for instance, will play for their affiliate in Oklahoma City during the lockout. It’s arguably a higher level of competition in at least one respect from European leagues: it’s a more regular schedule, in North American rink dimensions, against players who, on average, are closer to NHL caliber than the typical Euro league player.

All of those factors make it likely Landeskog will end up in Lake Erie during a lockout. Well, maybe the word isn’t “likely”, but more “sensible.” But money renders a lot of things senseless – including these CBA talks.

Pierre Lacroix was none too happy when the NHL locked out in 2004. (Denver Post)

Yes, it is. I’m going to start now though.

Talking with a couple of agents, a player here and there, an NHL management type here and there the last few days, and it’s clear to me that the impossibility that we all would assume for the NHL — that it is THE league we’d least have to worry about with regard to another long work stoppage, because of its recent past — is indeed possible.

I’m going to keep this kind of general for now, because it’s a blog and the expiration of the current NHL CBA is still another two seasons away, in September of 2012. I still have a hard time — a really hard time — believing that the NHL and its players would ever let another disastrous canceled season happen. The lost year of 2004-05 remains a dark, awful memory for everyone involved with this game. All that griping, all that posturing, all those “drop-dead deadlines”, all those false starts and crushed hopes. It was awful, and it really hurt the game a lot. Many fans still haven’t come back to the sport, though revenues have grown since ’05, the cap has grown from $39 million to the current $59.4 million and TV ratings have improved greatly.

So why am I worried already? Because I’m a bit of a neurotic first off, a classic glass-is-half-empty kind of guy. In my kind of outlook on life, you go into everything expecting the worst and if it doesn’t happen, it’s a wonderful day, so you’re “happy.” If the worst does happen, you were ready for it. And I’m not changing my stripes at this point.

But secondly, this guy makes me a little nervous:

Getty Images

Charming looking fella isn’t he? That’s Donald Fehr (pronounced “FEAR”), in case you didn’t know, the man who led the baseball players union for 26 years and a couple of work stoppages, including the one that led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series. Fehr left the MLBPA last year, but he could become the next director of the NHLPA as soon as Wednesday. The NHLPA is holding meetings Tuesday and Wed. in Toronto and could name the successor to Paul Kelly, who was ousted in a despicable, ugly palace coup by scheming, infighting players and other underlings. (This story by longtime hockey writer Jim Kelley summarizes the situation nicely).

Fehr has been working with the NHLPA as an unpaid adviser, but has dropped hints he might take over as director for a while and groom a potential successor. The players clearly want him to take over.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.